Grain stooker



May 3, 1938. D, MacLEAN 2,116,032

GRAIN STOOKER Filed Aug. 18, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 3, E38.

D. M LEAN 2,116,032

GRAIN STOOKER Filed Aug. 18, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 /N VENTOR D. WLEAN BY 17" 4 I TTYtS.

' D. M LEAN May 3, 1938.

' GRAIN STOOKER Filed Aug. 18, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 //v VENTOR D. /\/I- LEAN Patented May 3, 1938 PATENr OFFICE GRAIN STOOKE-R Donald MacLean, Middlechurch, Manitoba,

Canada Application August 18. 1936, SerialNo. 96,692

7 Claims.

Thispinvention relates to improvements in grain stookers and an object of the invention is to provide a device ofathe characterhereindescribed which is. designed to operatein conjunction with, a binder. and to receive sheaves therefrom, said sheaves being formedinto: stookswhich are afterwards deposited onthei ground without'compress ing. orscattering. i

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of: the character herein described which may be adjusted to form stocks equally successfully from grain of different lengths.

A further'objectof the invention is to provide a device ofthe character herein described which will form stooks of variouss'izesa A further. object of theinvention is to provide adevice of thischaracterwhich will operate successfully with sheaves of various sizes.

A further object of the inventionis to provide 'ing of the stock will occur when'it is deposited upon the ground. w

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character herein described which is economicalto manufacture and will not easily become out of order.

With the above more important objects in View and such other minor objects-as may appear as the specification proceeds, my invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts all as hereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a plan view of my improved type ofgrain stooker. 1

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation takenon the line 3 2-2 Figure 1.

Fig. 3 shows a plan view of a further type of sheaf elevating device which may be used with my stooker. 1

Fig. 4 illustrates an elevational view of the same.

Fig. 5 is a detail View showing a method used to transmit motion. from the horizontal lying shaft to the vertical shafts which operate the sheaf carrying belts.

In the drawings likecharacters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures. 1 a 1. a i

This invention consists of. a framework I composed of side bars 2 in the form of angle irons which, are angulated downwardly as at 3. Boards 4 extend between the angle irons in the front portion of the device andprovide a platform 5. Further angle irons are situated beneath the platform for supporting purposes and to add rigidity to the device. -A deep aperture 5 is out in the rear portion, of. theplatform for a purpose presently to be explained and leaves side legs I on either side thereof. 1 l

At the rear of each of these side legs is attached a bearing 8 which carries a swivel wheel 9 mounted in a yoke [0. Further apertures H are provided on either side of the platform adjacent the forward end thereof and a long shaft I2 extendstransversely beneath the platform being mounted in bearings 13. Upon the shaft are keyed drive wheels l4 and I4 provided with lugs I5'as illustrated.

Adjacent the wheel I4 which will be nearest the binder (not shown) is .mounted a large sprocket wheel l6v for a purpose presently to be explained.

' Situated adjacent the forward end of the machine and extending upwardly and laterally over the wheel I4 is a sheaf-carrying elevator H which consists of a framework 18 across the lower end of which extends a rotatable shaft I9 mounted within bearings 20. Fastened to this shaft between the bars 2|, 22 and 23 is a pair of rollers 24 and 25. Similar rollers 26 and 21 are mounted upon independent shafts 3|] and 3| carried by the forward ends of the bars 22 and 23 and 2| and 22 respectively. It should be noted that the bars 2| and 22 are somewhat longer than the bar 23 so that an aperture 32 is formed between the bar 22 and. the roller 26. l

Elevator belts 33 are mounted upon the rollers in the manner illustrated and the shaft l9is providedwith a sprocket wheel 34 at one end thereof to receive power from a hinder or if'desired, this power may be obtained from the driving wheel M of this device by any convenient method of power transmission.

Situated centrally upon the forward end of the platform 5 is the sheaf tipping mechanism 34 which consists of a stationary curved plate 35 upon the rear side of which are attached aligned bearings 36 which carry a shaft 31 therein. Pivotally mounted upon this shaft is an angulated metallic strip 38 which is turned over the upper edge of the plate 35 and carries a movable tipping plate 39 at the end thereof.

This plate is formed with a rearwardly extending flange 40 attached to the lower edge thereof and the strip 38 is prolonged backwardly through an aperture 4| within the plate 35 and is securely attached to the flange 40 to maintain it rigidly in position. Upon the forward side of the plate 35 is attached a protruding stud 42 and an opposing stud 43 is mounted upon the inner surface of the strip 38. Extending between these studs is a helical compressive spring 44 which serves to maintain the tipping plate'and the flange in the position illustrated most clearly in Figure2.

It should be mentioned that the spring 44 is light enough to allow the plate 39 to tip forwardly when a sheaf of grain falls upon the flange 40. Positioned immediately below the flange 4D is pair of rearwardly and centrally extending b1- a roller 45 mounted upon a shaft 46 carried in bearings 41 which are attached to the platform 5.

This roller, it should be noted, is placed within an aperture 46 in the platform. A companion roller 48 is mounted upon a longshaf-t '49 which is carried in bearings 50, 5| and 52. Around the rollers 45 and 4 8 is placed a travelling belt '49 which is supportedintermedially upon -a raised platform 50 which extends portion of the belt. 8 1

The outer end of the shaft is provided with a pinion 53-which is securely attached-thereto and-engages with a further pinion -54mounted upon a stub shaft 55 carriedfiby the bearing 56. Upon the inner end of this latter shaft is mounted a sprocket wheel 51 in alignment with a sprocket wheel I6 adjacent the drive wheel I4. A sprocket chain 58'=-connects the wheels 51 and I6 inorder -to transmit motion from the drive Wheel lflfl.

Mounted upon the platform 5 adjacent the shaft 49' is apair of standards 58 having rotatable shafts 59 extending therethrough." The lower.

the shaft 59 to also rotate. "The upper ends of these latter shafts; it should be'noted, are provided with sprocket Wheels 62.

Integrally attached to, and extending centrally from the standards 58 are a pair of arms 63 which carry. vertically disposedshafts 64 at the inner. ends thereof. These shafts are provided with sprocket. wheels. 65. in alignment with .the wheels 621and. sprocket chains. 66 are passed therearound. A second pair of :arms 61 on'substantially the same level as the arms 63 extend centrally and rearwardly from the standards 58 and are alsotprovided with vertical shafts-.68 at the ends thereof. These latter shafts, it should be noted, are firmly-secured to the arms and do not rotate as do the shafts 64. 1

Fastened to theupper .ends of the shafts 6B are short links .69 the ends of which are received overthe shafts 64 beneath the sprocket wheels 65. These links are designed. to actas braces to help support the shaft 64.

Extending centrally and forwardly from the standards 58 are a still further pair of arms 89 which are bifurcated at the forward end thereof to formfingers 10 between theendsxofwhich are mounted shaftsll carrying rollers "thereupon. i

These latter arms, it should benoted, are rotatably mounted upon the standards and are provided with short .portions 13 integrally attached thereto which extend outwardly from the standards. To the end .of. the portions 13 are pivotally attached'rods 14:.which extend rearwardly and are fastened :tohand levers 15 beneath the upper .be .;explained.

Rotatably mounted upon the standards 18 is a furoated arms 83 similar to the arms 69 which carry pivotally mounted rollers 84 at the ends thereof. Integral sections 85 of these arms extend past the standard 18 and are provided with rods 86 pivotally attached to the ends thereof. These rods extend rearwardly and are secured to levers 81 similar to the levers 15 mounted upon the shafts 16.

It should here be mentioned that rollers 88 are fastened-tothe shafts 64 between the arms 63 and the links :69 and. are designed to .be rotated by the chains 6.6. Around the rollers 88 and III are passed belts 89 which. carry a series of vertically disposed slats 90 on the outer surface thereof. i

The rollers 12 and .84 carried by the arms I59 and 83 respectively, are positioned between the two sides of the belt 89 and are designed to bear against'the inner surface thereof as shown most clearly :in Figure 1. Thus when the levers 15 and 81 are actuated, the rollers 12 by means of the arms 69 and 83 can be made to adjust the distance between the opposing faces of the belts 89 and thereby vary the width of the passageway bounded by these two belts.

Mounted upon the shaft 16 adjacent the pinions 5,3and 54 is yet a third lever 9I which carries a bifurcated yoke 92 securely attached thereto. .Between the ends of this :yoke is pivotally mounted a, small roller 93 and similar rollers 94 and 95 are mounted in alignment therewith upon shafts 49 and 94'. )This latter shaft is carried by bearings 96 and is designed to extend across the inner end of the aperture 6. Around these three rollers is placed a band 91 and it will be obvious that tightening the band by actuating the lever 9| will cause the roller 94 to rotate the rollers 93 and 94 which in turn revolves the shaft 94'. 7

Mounted upon the shaft 94' between the confines of the leg I of the platform, is an elongated roller 98 and a second roller 99 in alignment therewith is mounted adjacent the mouth of the aperture 6 within bearings I00. Around these rollers is placed a discharge belt I OI which is supported upon a plurality of further rollers I02 carried by bearings I03. Pivotally attached to the vertical rods -68 is a pair of opposed, rearwardly extending, metallic strips I04, which are designed to embrace the stook in a manner to be explained.

Attached to the outer side of these strips intermedially along the length thereof, is a pair of outwardly extending rods I85 which are slidably supported Within bushings I06 surmounted upon posts I01. Between the strips and the bushings extend compression springs I08 which are designed to maintain the strips normally in the position illustrated in Figure 1.

Mounted upon-either side of the belts IN is a pair of vertical posts I08, the lower portions therein. The elevation of these rods may be ad- H9 of which'are tubular and receive rods III justed by set screws II 2 which extend through the walls of the tubular portion. To the upper ends of the rods are secured resilient arms H3, the ends of which are provided with an arcuate configuration as at H4. 1

Similar posts H5 are mounted adjacent the ends of the strips I94 and are also provided with resilient arms H6 which aresomewhatlonger than the arms H3 and overlap in the manner illustrated. A pair of shorter arms: I I! of a similar nature is secured to the upper ends of the shafts 88. I I Extending across the mouth f the aperture adjacent the belt IIlI is a discharge plate II8 mounted upon a transversely extending shaft-I I 9'. The rear edge of this plategit should be noted, is designed to drag upon the ground as the machine In Figures 3 and 4 of the ac'companying drawf ings, I have illustrated a further typeoffsheaf elevating means. In this latter structure-I have provided a frameworkIZfl consisting'of a pair of angulated arms I2I- which carry shafts-422 mounted within bearings I23.

Rollers I24 are securely fastenedto the shafts.- Around these rollers is passed a belt I25 which carries a plurality of rows of curved fingers I26. Positioned adjacent the upper end of the belt I 25 is a downwardly extending chute I21 carried by supporting braces I28.

As the sheaves are thrown upon the fingers I26, they are elevated and dropped into the chute I21 from whence they are precipitated into the machine to be formed into a stock in the manner presently to be explained.

The construction of my improved type of stooking machine having been disclosed, the method of operation thereof will now be presented.

This machine is designed to be used in conjunction with a binder and as the sheaves leave the binder, they are thrown upon the belts 33 which are moving upwardly due to the rotation of the shaft I9 by power received from the binder through the sprocket wheel 34. As a sheaf I29 reaches the upper end of the shorter belt, it tilts downwardly, in the manner shown, and falls through the aperture 32. It should here be mentioned that the sheaves are always placed upon the belts 33 so that the heads thereof are pointing towards the rear of the machine and in this manner when they fall through the aperture 32, they will be standing upright.

Each sheaf will then strike the flange 40 which causes the plate 39 to tilt and strike the head of the sheaf, thereby forcing it into engagement with the spokes 82 which urge it between the belts 89. These belts are at this time moving rearwardly as is the belt 49 due to power received from the drive wheel I4 and I4 through the shafts 49 and 59.

Each sheaf is therefore carried rearwardly in an upright position and is ultimately Pushed upon the discharge belt IOI which is at this time in a stationary position.

As further sheaves fall upon the belt 49, they accumulate and bear against the resilient arms H1 and ultimately distend these arms to move into the space bounded by the strips I04 and the arms I I3. When sufficient sheaves have been received within this space to form a stook, the lever 9| is pulled backwardly by an attendant to actuate the belt IOI and cause it to move in the direction indicated by the arrow. The stook then distendsrthe arms 3 and finally bear'sjagainst the arms H6 which keep it closely packed until it slides down the discharge plate II8 onto the ground.

It should here be mentioned that an important feature of this device is the speed of travel of the belt I8I which is made exactly the same as theforward speed of the machine so that as a sheaf is moved by-the discharge belt, it has no motion relative to the ground and'therefore, as it slides down the discharge plate, it possesses no tendency to break and scatter nor to compress.

If desired, thedischarge belt IIlI may besplit centrally into two portions, thus forming two separate belts operating side by side. In the space between these belts may be mounted a short upright fin which flares outwardly adjacent the plate H8. With this arrangement, as a stook is beingmoved by the belts, it will beseparated into two sectionswhich will lean against each other when deposited on the ground, thus forminga very firm stook. V I I I The elevating means illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 operate inthe same manner as that illus trated in the first embodiment and sheaveswhich are-carried up by the fingers I26 fall into the chute I21 and are precipitated onto the flange lllin an upright position to becarried forward in the manner already described. 1

It should be noted that sheaves of different size can be formed by permitting the strips I04 to distend against the pressure of the belt I98 to any desired extent.

In order to take care of short sheaves, the posts I99 may be shortened by sliding the rods I I8 down into the tubular portions I III and thereby reducing the elevation of the resilient strips H3. This same procedure may be undertaken with the resilient arms H6.

In order that sheaves which are small in width may be gripped between the belts 89, the arms 69 and 83 may be rotated by the levers I5 and 8'! respectively, to force the opposing faces of the belts 89 into closed relationship and reduce the width of the passageway therebetween.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided an ingenious type of stooking machine which possesses an outstanding advantage over former machines of this character in that stocks which are expelled therefrom have no tendency either to compress or to scatter, thereby preventing collapse of the stooks.

Since various modifications can be made in the above invention and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense and I desire only such limitations placed thereon as are specifically expressed in the accompanying claims.

What I claim as my invention is:-

1. Improvements in grain stookers comprising a movably mounted framework, sheaf receiving and elevating means attached thereto, a movable sheaf carrying belt mounted beneath said elevating means, said elevating means being adapted to deposit a sheaf in an upright position upon said carrying belt, vertical belts situated on either side of said carrying belt and a pivotally mounted tipping element designed to urge said sheaves into engagement with said vertical belts, means for actuating said sheaf elevating means, said 7 carrying belt and said vertical belts, a normally stationary discharge belt at one end of said carrying belt, a pair of lateral, horizontally disposed rollers, said discharge belt being mounted thereon embracing arms situated on either side thereof, a plurality of resilient arms extending partially thereacross, said carrying belt being adapted to deposit a plurality of sheaves upon,

said discharge belt between said embracing arms and said resilient arms to form a stock and means for imparting motion to said discharge belt to deposit said stook in unbroken: formation upon the ground.

2. The device as claimed in'claim 1 inwhich a discharge plate, designed to drag upon the ground, is situated at one end of said discharge belt.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1 in which said sheaf receiving and elevating means comprises a pair of belts movably mounted upon an inclined framework, one of said belts being of greater length than the other thereof. 7

4. The device as claimed in \claiml in which the means for receiving and elevating said sheaves comprises amovablygmounted inclined belt, sheaf carrying means upon said belt and a chute situated adjacent said belt todeposit said sheaves upon said carrying belt. 1

5. Improvements in grain .stookers comprising a movably mounted framework, sheaf receiving and elevating means attached thereto comprising a movably mounted inclined belt, sheaf carrying means upon said belt, a chute situated adjacent said belt to deposit said sheaves thereonto, a movable sheaf carrying belt mounted beneath said inclined belt, said inclined belt being adapted to deposit a sheaf in an upright position upon said carrying belt, vertical belts on either side of said carrying belt, and a tipping element 'designed .to urge said sheaves into engagement with said vertical belts, means for actuating said inclined belt, said carrying belt and said vertical belts, a normally stationary discharge belt at one end of said carrying belt, embracing arms situated on either side thereof, a plurality of resilient arms extending partially thereacross, said carrying belt being adapted to deposit a plurality of sheaves upon said discharge belt between said embracing arms and said resilient arms to form a stook, and means for imparting motion to said discharge belt to deposit said stock in unbroken formation upon the ground.

6. The device as defined in claim 5 in which said sheaf carrying means comprises a plurality of fingers attached to said belt.

7. The device as claimed in claim 1, in which means are provided for varying the size of the passageway between said vertical belts.

DONALD MACLEAN. 

